Mandy's Family Restaurant--El Segundo, CA

241 Main Street
El Segundo, CA 90245
310-322-7272
 website

It was Sunday evening, and Happy Meal and I had another Groupon to use. I had purchased one for Mandy's Family Restaurant due to the numerous mentions of burgers in the offer. We made our way down to El Segundo, where the living was easy, and the street parking was free. Finding free parking was the absolute highlight of our visit.

Mandy's was understaffed with a single waitress for the 10 tables. The owner wandered in and out, but was largely invisible. We ordered a couple of cheeseburgers and an appetizer. About 20 minutes later, 2 cheese-free burgers arrived. I mentioned that we had ordered an appetizer and that we wished to cancel that part of the order, since it no longer made an sense. Naturally, the server brought out that plate immediately. I reiterated that I was no longer interested in  the appetizer, since it was arriving after the main course. Her reply was a huff and a surly eye roll. It was only then that I realized that "cheeseburger" was a misnomer for what I had ordered. I summoned the manager over, and he trotted the plates back to get some cheese on the burgers. The kitchen was so sloppy, that the barely melted cheese on my burger had a fry trapped underneath it. So.....bang up start.

The Burger Breakdown...

The Beef: The beef at Mandy's Family Restaurant was of a grade that could best be termed "3rd World Industrial." The beef in this burger had me pining away for airline food. The patty weighed in at around 2 ounces. It had the texture, thickness, and general culinary appeal of an athletic shoe's insole, but it had less flavor. The patty was bowed like a murky contact lens. The grind was intensely fine, and the vulcanized patty was so dry that it was like beef jerky with none of the beef flavor. The burger was bland to the point of tasting watery. The highly processed, machine-formed, previously-frozen frisbee of  a patty still had clear conveyor belt marks on it from whatever factory is was shipped in from. Epic fail.

The Seasoning: There was none.

The Sear: A hearty yet utterly pointless sear was applied to part of one side of the burger patty. The sear further contributed to the dessicated nature of this burger.

The Preparation: In terms of heat and pressure, the burger at Mandy's Family Restaurant was well its the way to being turned into a diamond. The lukewarm fries, unmelted cheese, untoasted bun, and otherwise shoddy preparation spoke to a level of incompetence in the kitchen that made me question the wisdom of allowing Happy Meal to take another bite. He made that decision on his own and set aside the dry disc of shame and despair after a few bites. My son is ordinarily a bit of a human garbage disposal, but Mandy's served up a meal that even my sturdy and ravenous lad couldn't choke down.

The Cheese: The unmelted slice of American cheese was just that. It was lost in the blandness of inferior, stale-tasting ingredients.

The Bun: This was an over-sized, stale, cool, barely toasted industrial grade bit of nonsense. The cook had slid/wiped the bun halves across the griddle so that the grease had built up on and soaked into the leading edges. The bun was bland and dry.

The Meat To Bun Ratio: The dry, stale bun overpowered the thin, dry, chewy, bland burger patty. It was like eating a piece of furniture from Ikea.

The Toppings: Who cares? It was all bad at Mandy's Family Restaurant.

The Fries: Lukewarm, bland, unseasoned, and just plain not good. Sadly, the fries were the best thing on the plate.

The Value: We spent $7 for $14 worth of unpalatable, inedible garbage. This was a sinful waste of 7 bucks.

The cheeseburgers at Mandy's Family Restaurant were the sort of thing that would cause prisoners to riot. There was simply nothing redeeming about the burgers. The service matched the food. The surly twerp of a  waitress failed to check in with us at any point after taking our order.

Burger Review : The worst burger in the Los Angeles area can be found at Mandy's Family Restaurant. Never again--not even on a dare.

Rating...1 Bite (rounded up from 1/2 Bite)

Burgerim (CLOSED)--West Hollywood, CA

8593 Santa Monica Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
310-854-0234
website 

Happy Meal and I had a hankering for cheeseburgers, and we had an about-to-expire Groupon for Burgerim. Game on!

Burgerim is Hebrew for "multiple burgers." There were more than 70 locations of Burgerim in Israel. This was the only US location of the popular franchise. Burgerim had opened up shop atop the ashes of the ill-fated, underwhelming, and mercifully defunct O'Burger.  O'Burger had distinguished itself a few years ago by serving up one of the worst burgers in Los Angeles. It was only up from there.

Here's an excerpt from the website of the US outpost of Burgerim: "...Our savory mini-burgers are infused with Mediterranean flare and served with a variety of gourmet toppings, so you can customize to your taste bud’s delight!

Want natural? We’ve got natural. Our all natural, hormone-free meat and veggie patties are snuggled between light and fluffy, egg washed French buns. We use 100% all natural preservative free fresh buns that are delivered daily, hot out of the oven..."

While Happy Meal and I were dubious at the prospect of a mini-burger being anything better than mediocre, we were willing to try. We ordered an assortment of burgers: Signature, Mergez, and Kobe. The menu offered 9 kinds of burgers including chicken, tuna, beef, lamb, and veggie. I would be about 4 bucks/burger, if you were paying full boat. We settled in for a brief wait. Our burgers were delivered to our table in about 10 minutes.

The Burger Breakdown...

The Beef: The 3.25-ounce burgers were sourced from a mystery purveyor, but they were hormone-free. The Kobe beef was grass-fed. I presumed that cut of beef was Chuck. The Signature Burger and the Kobe Burger were virtually identical in terms of flavor and other characteristics, while the Mergez Burger was like a dryish Mediterranean (beef and lamb) meatloaf. The Kobe beef was a little denser than the Signature beef, but that was about it. I would pass on the Mergez and stick with the traditional choices, because the traditional burgers were exceptional. The beef in the proportionally thick mini-burger patties was surprisingly juicy. There was a strong punch of beef followed up with a hint of minerality. There was no funk, but this was fine in the case of Burgerim. The fat content in the medium/coarsely grind beef was 20%. The beef was a real standout, and really quite surprising.

The Seasoning: The kitchen nailed this with a dusting of something savory. The seasoning was just right.

The Sear: Burgerim did what they could. The super hot, gas-fired grill got competent, dark, and deep char marks on the burger patties. The mild char flavor was a welcome addition to the bite.

The Preparation: The burgers were tender enough on the palate to suggest that the patties were formed by hand on the premises. Presumably, this was done during the prep cycle, since it would have been cumbersome to form up tons of small patties during the rush. The burgers were cooked to a juicy Med-Rare.

The Cheese: Our choices were Pepper Jack and Cheddar. We went with the Cheddar. It was a solid choice! The Cheddar was bold, sharp, and savory. Furthermore, the Cheddar added a strong iron note to the burger along with some gooeyness. The cheese was a winner.

The Bun: While the website suggested a French bun of some sort, the counter staff informed us that the bun at this Burgerim was a locally sourced Challah bun. Regardless, the bun was fluffy, moist, fresh, and it managed to stay out of the way of the delicious meat and cheese. The unseeded bun was lightly toasted.

The Meat To Bun Ratio: This was perfect. It was surprisingly spot on considering the fact that the burger patties were not a standard size.

The Toppings: I tried the Harisa. I hear this is what passes for hot sauce in other parts of the world. This was so mild that I would suggest rubbing it on minor scrapes and burns. The shredded lettuce was fresh, and the tomato slices were rich, ripe, and juicy.

The Fries: The fries, while not cut in house, were just fine. These were peel-on, par-cooked, and properly crisped shoestring fries. The seasoning on the fries led me to believe that they were cooked in rice bran oil, but I was informed that Burgerim used plain old vegetable oil. I had to fight Happy Meal to get my share of the fries.


The Value: With the Groupon, Happy Meal and I got fries, a drink, and 5 mini burgers for $11. This would have ordinarily cost us 2 bucks. With the discount, the value was stellar. Without the discount, the value was just fine. $22 for really good cheeseburgers and fries made sense.

Burgerim eclipsed the former tenant of the West Hollywood space by providing exceptionally good cheeseburgers at a really fair price. I bought another Groupon for Burgerim today at Happy Meal's strong insistence. We generally don't return to a place that we have sampled, but Burgerim was just that good.

Burger Review : Burgerim served one of the best burgers in Los Angeles. Go there, and go there soon.

Rating...5 Bites (rounded up from 4.5 Bites)

Great American Burger Truck--Los Angeles, CA

website

From the Great American Burger website. "...Try us and you'll be convinced! Our recipes are authentic and time-tested. The ingredients are always fresh; meat is never frozen.  The result? A burger that bursts with flavor...."

The Great American Burger truck was parked outside of my office at lunchtime, so this review truly amounts to me blundering into an attractive nuisance.  

I ordered a Great American Burger ($8.50....what?), and I passed on the fries. It was nice that they used Square rather requiring me to pay with cash. My burger was ready in about 5 minutes.

The Burger Breakdown...

The Beef: The wispy, thin, 3-ounce patty was cooked to a slightly chewy Well-Done. The beef was plenty beefy, and it was properly seasoned,. Beyond that, it was nothing special. The 100% Angus Chuck was fresh. The burger patty was a on the dry side, and the coarsely ground beef provided no complexity to the bite. The beef was perfectly average and about one might expect of a truck-sourced burger.

The Seasoning: Great American Burger liberally applied salt and pepper to the patty of my cheeseburger. This was a welcome addition to the otherwise tame beef.

The Sear: The kitchen got a surprisingly good sear on the thin burger patty. While the sear was not crisp, it did serve to amplify the beefiness of the dish.

The Preparation: The burger patty was uniformly round and thin. I assumed that Great American Burger took delivery of pre-formed patties. The burgers were seared on a very hot, gas-fired flat-top to a dryish Well-Done. 

The Cheese: My burger arrived with a slice of nicely melted American cheese. The gooey cheese rescued the burger from being too dry. The cheese also served to add a little complexity to the flat flavor profile.

The Bun: The Brioche-style bun at Great American was a big, bready, yeasty, and slightly sweet affair. It lacked any buttery notes, so it looked like a Brioche, but it did not taste like a Brioche. The bun was a little on the dry side, and that was where the cheese barely saved the day. The bun was only toasted along the edges.

The Meat To Bun Ratio: The weakly toasted bun simply dwarfed the burger patty at Great American Burger. Maybe a triple cheeseburger...fully loaded with toppings and sauces would have made sense with that bun. The meager, single beef patty was no match, and the resulting bite was overly bready.

The Toppings: The Romaine lettuce leaf was fresh and crisp. The Roma tomato slice was ripe and juicy.

The Value: WEAK. $8.50 for a very meager portion of beef was a bad surprise.

I popped over to the Great American Burger truck due to it's convenient proximity to my office. I shall not make the trip twice.

Burger Review : The Great American Burger truck served up a perfectly average cheeseburger at an above-average price. Pass

Rating...3 Bites (rounded up from 2.5 Bites)